Teaching with Technology

I return to the blogosphere after a 6-week hiatus. I began this semester with some great ideas of how to incorporate technology in my curriculum. But, unfortunately, I am placed at a school where the use of technology is, well, not exactly state-of-the-art. In fact, the use of cell phones (one of the many forms of technology) is forbidden during class. (Some of my fellow interns have suggested that, due to the dearth of personally-owened laptops in my field placement, I could incorporate texting into my teaching.)

In sum, how does one reconcile "teaching with technology" at an institution where the use of technology in the classroom (e.g., SmartBoard, PowerPoint, Prezi, ChromeBooks, to mention only a few) is nonexistent? In fact, it has been my observation that there are some internal struggles between the "old school"educators and those of us who, having been schooled in the 21st century, are more technologically savvy.

Field placement aside, I really appreciated Rory's ChromeBook exercise on the first day of class. I would very much like to try that in my field placement during the course of my internship. Laptops are available for the students to use in the school library. But since there is no centrally-located Smartboard, or its equivalent, there, it would be difficult to share the slides with the students. The culminating community slide sharing event was a very important exercise: It was lively, entertaining, and helped create a shared sense of solidarity; it created a shared belief that we, as 21st century learners, are in this together. It also helped bring us together, as a cohort.

I welcome any suggestions on how I might incorporate technology in my current classroom. This will require a lot of preparation: I will have to usher the students down the hall to the school library, where I might have to reserve space several days in advance, in order to do so.